CEAS

Withdrawn

Raised
$250M
CIK
1853404
SPAC Ticker
CEAS.U
Focus
Aerospace, Telecommunications, Robotics, Unicorns
External link: SEC Filings

SPAC Team

Leadership

Edward Horowitz

Mr. Horowitz, our Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is a highly experienced executive with more than 40 years of professional experience across technology, media, telecom, satellite operations, financial services and digital technology. With this knowledge and business acumen, he has played a lead role in establishing global standards for technology issues, including digital compression and high definition television.

Mr. Horowitz is the Founder and Chairman of EdsLink LLC, a venture capital firm focused on space, technology, media and telecom opportunities. Alongside this role, Mr. Horowitz sits on the Board of the First Responders Network Authority (“FirstNet.gov”), an independent authority within the U.S. Department of Commerce that is tasked with developing, building and operating a nationwide, broadband network devoted to first responders. He was appointed as Board Chairman by The Honorable Wilbur Ross, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, between 2018 and 2020.

Prior to these roles, Mr. Horowitz served as President and CEO of SES North America, a market-leading satellite operator serving the entertainment, broadcast media, business enterprise, and government sectors. He was also Founder and Chairman of e-Citi, a global unit of Citigroup (NYSE: C) that pioneered ecommerce and financial services strategies to extend Citigroup’s reach in the digital economy, and served on Citigroup’s Executive, Operating and Investment Committees.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Horowitz was Senior Vice President at Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC), a member of its Executive Committee, and Chairman and CEO of Viacom Broadcasting and the Viacom Interactive Media Group. He also held various senior management positions at Home Box Office (HBO), a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Mr. Horowitz has served on the boards of more than 10 public and private companies, including Chair of the Board at Fairpoint Communications (NASDAQ: FRP), and as Director at Qumu (NASDAQ: QUMU), Inc., i-Village (NASDAQ: IVIL), American Reprographics (NYSE: ARC), Online Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCC), US Space LLC and EaglePicher Technologies.

Mr. Horowitz was inducted into the Society of Satellite Professional International SPI Hall of Fame in 2011, and has won other prestigious industry awards including the Gartner Group’s Excellence in Technology Award and the Bell Laboratories President’s Special Award for innovation. He holds an MBA from Columbia University and BS degree in Physics from the City College of New York.

We believe Mr. Horowitz is well-qualified to serve as a Director due to his extensive experience due to his extensive experience is Space - related industries, his experience as an Officer in large public companies and his business leadership.

Andreas Georghiou

Mr. Georghiou, our President, has more than 30 years of experience occupying leadership roles and senior executive positions primarily in the satellite industry. His diverse roles across multiple organizations provide unique insight into the industry’s most successful corporate strategy, sales, M&A, and business development processes.

Most recently, Mr. Georghiou served as the Chief Executive Officer of Spacenet Inc., a subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: GILT), where he oversaw the execution of a transformation strategy that resulted in double-digit revenue growth in a competitive environment.

Prior to joining Spacenet Inc., Mr. Georghiou served as Chief Commercial Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Operations at SES Americom Inc. In these roles, he was responsible for overseeing commercial activities and strategy, asset management, space systems and operations, terrestrial systems and operations, marketing communications, regulatory affairs and spectrum management.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Georghiou served as an Officer and Senior VP of Global Satellite Services of GE Capital (NYSE: GE), building up more than $5 billion in sales backlog as the commercial leader at GE Americom, initiating multiple strategic M&A transactions, and leading the company’s sale to SES Astra at a significant premium.

Mr. Georghiou sits on the Board of Directors at NewAge Industries and LCR Embedded Systems, and previously served as a board member at Dunmore Corporation, Globecomm, and UrtheCast (TSX: UR). He was also a member of the Corporate Leadership Advisory Council of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Georghiou holds a BS degree in Statistics and Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MS degree in Operations Research from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rob Sussman

Mr. Sussman, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, has more than 35 years of experience in finance, business development and operations. He will lead target sourcing, target evaluation, and transaction execution processes in this role. He also serves as Founder and President of Rusk Mountain Advisors, a strategic, financial, and operational consultancy focused on the technology, media, and consumer-facing digital product sectors.

Prior to these roles, Mr. Sussman served as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Development, and Strategy for EPIX Entertainment, a premium television network and streaming service, which delivered an extensive line-up of quality original series, documentaries, and movies. Mr. Sussman was also directly responsible for scaling the startup’s business operations and leading several original distribution deals that resulted in a successful sale to MGM at a valuation exceeding $1.2 billion.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Sussman was SVP of Business Operations, Development and Strategy in MTV Network’s consumer products group and managed the administrative and operational services of EPIX through Viacom’s services agreement. He also launched a digital video business as President of New Media for Gaiam, a leading producer and distributor of fitness video and wellness products, and served as a Founding Member, Executive Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer of the Sundance Channel, now known as Sundance TV. Mr. Sussman has also served in various finance, strategy and business development roles at Showtime (NASDAQ: VIAC), where he had financial oversight of the company’s satellite business.

Mr. Sussman holds an MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BA degree in Economics from Georgetown University.

Todd Tindall

Mr. Tindall, our Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Development, will leverage more than 30 years of investment experience to help identify and evaluate acquisition opportunities.

Mr. Tindall currently serves as a Vice President in the investment banking division of CEA Group, where he leads the aerospace and space technology industry coverage team. He is also Managing Partner for Guardian Advisors, an investment advisory firm. Previously, he was a Director with Vq Research, a 3D printing manufacturer for micro lead-frame chip carriers and other electronic parts.

Mr. Tindall’s background also includes capital structure oversight for a mix of early stage and middle market companies across various industries including commercial real estate, sports marketing, wireless broadband, battery technology, logistics, and additive manufacturing. He takes a hands-on approach to analyzing companies’ financial performances in line with product planning and overarching business strategy.

Mr. Tindall holds a BA degree in Economics from Rollins College.

In addition to Edward Horowitz, our Chief Executive Officer, our board of directors will include Dr. Lonnie Johnson, Dr. Robert Willis, Nicole Stott, J. Patrick “Rick” Michaels, Hoyt Davidson, and Mark Piegza. Mr. Horowitz and Mr. Horowitz will be Co-Chairmen of our board of directors.

Dr. Lonnie Johnson

Dr. Johnson, our Co-Chairman, is an accomplished NASA scientist, inventor and founder of companies bringing the latest battery and energy conversion technologies to market. Dr. Johnson served as an Acting Chief of the Space Nuclear Power Safety Section at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and as Senior Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where he worked on the Galileo mission to Jupiter, the Mars Observer project and the Cassini (Saturn) project. Dr. Johnson is a successful consumer product entrepreneur and the inventor of the popular SuperSoaker® water gun and several Nerf® dart guns. He owns more than 100 patents, holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering, an MS degree in Nuclear Engineering, and an honorary Ph.D. in Science from Tuskegee University.

We believe Dr. Johnson is well-qualified to serve as a Director due to his extensive experience as an entrepreneur, scientist, and his operational experience at NASA and the Air Force Weapons Laboratory.

Dr. Robert Willis

Dr. Willis is a co-founder of Navigation Capital Partners LP who brings experience as an entrepreneur, senior executive and investor. In addition to his role at Navigation Capital, Dr. Willis served as President of Pensare Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: WRLS), later renamed as American Virtual Cloud Technologies (NASDAQ: AVCT), where he was the key financial architect of Pensare’s acquisition of Computex Technology Solutions and AVCtechnologies’ contract with AT&T. Prior to co-founding Navigation Capital, Dr. Willis served as the President of nsoro, where he negotiated the business’ acquisition by MasTec and, served in an advisory role. Prior to nsoro, Dr. Willis served as Founder and Chairman of U.S. Shale Solutions, Inc., a shale services company. He was also Chief Executive Officer of Foxcode Inc., a merchant-banking firm where he was principal on multiple debt and equity transactions. In total, Dr. Willis has sourced and led more than 20 control transactions across various industries including online gaming, computer software, and natural resources.

We believe Mr. Willis is well-qualified to serve as a Director due to his extensive investment experience, his operational experience and his experience in dealing with strategic matters relating to special purpose acquisition companies.

Nicole Stott

Mrs. Stott is a veteran NASA Astronaut who has completed two spaceflights. She has lived and worked in space for 104 days as a crewmember on both the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle. In that time, she was the tenth female to ever complete a spacewalk, the first person to fly the robotic arm to capture a free-flying HTV cargo vehicle, and a member of the Space Shuttle Discovery’s final flight crew (STS-133). Prior to Mrs. Stott’s selection as an astronaut in 2000, she served as a NASA Engineer, was Program Manager at the Kennedy Space Center for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs, and spent two years at the Johnson Space Center as a Flight Engineer on the Shuttle Training Aircraft. Mrs. Stott currently sits on the advisory board of Voyager Space Holdings, an aviation and aerospace company that specializes in the space exploration industry. She also serves as a senior technical advisor to ILC Dover Astrospace, the industry leader in spacesuit and inflatable space habitat technology. Mrs. Stott is a member of the NASA International Space Station (ISS) Advisory Committee and founder of the Space for Art Foundation.

We believe Mrs. Stott is well-qualified to serve as a Director due to her extensive experience as a NASA astronaut.

J. Patrick “Rick” Michaels, Jr.

Mr. Michaels is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CEA Group. Having founded CEA in 1973, he has led the company’s evolution from a US Cable TV brokerage business into a full-service international investment banking, private equity, and financial services firm. In 2000, Mr. Michaels co-founded Atlantic American Partners (AAP), which operates one of America’s most successful EB-5 visa investment programs. He has worked in more than 110 countries, is a recipient of the Ernst and Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and has been a principal, investor and/or sponsor of many other businesses across the media, communications and entertainment industries. Mr. Michaels earned his BA as magna cum laude from Tulane University; and his MA degree from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He sits on the North American Advisory Board of The London School of Economics and was formerly Vice Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Naval Academy. Mr. Michaels is a recipient of the USF President’s Medal and holds an honorary MA degree from St. Leo University.

We believe Mr. Michaels is well-qualified to serve as a Director due to his extensive investment experience, his operational experience and his experience in dealing with strategic matters of technology and space related companies.

Hoyt Davidson

Mr. Davidson is the Founder and Managing Partner of Near Earth LLC, an investment banking boutique and FINRA licensed broker-dealer focused on the satellite industry, commercial space and the Internet of Things, where he provides M&A advisory, equity private placement and strategic and financial consulting services. Near Earth has also been engaged by NASA and the U.S. Air Force for space related consulting assignments. In his previous role as Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Mr. Davidson co-founded the Space Finance Group, the first corporate finance coverage group focused on the commercial satellite industry, which raised more than $15 billion for commercial satellite companies, Mr., Davidson currently serves on the board of XO Markets Holdings, the parent of NanoRacks LLC, and on the advisory boards of Lynk Global and Nexteon. His non-profit participations include serving on the board of the Space Foundation as both Treasurer and as a member of its Finance Committee, serving on the board of the National Space Society, where he was the Vice President for Development and is a member of the Policy and Investment Committees. He also previously served on the NASA Advisory Council for Commercial Space. Mr. Davidson received a Physics degree from MIT and upon graduation spent six years in the Space Systems Division of Lockheed leaving as a Senior Research Engineer to return to MIT for an MBA. At MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Mr. Davidson earned the Henry B. duPont III scholarship for academic excellence.

We believe Mr. Davidson is well qualified to serve as a director due to his experience in strategy and finance acquired over the course of his career spent working as an investment banker focused on the space industry.

Mark Piegza

Mr. Piegza has an extensive background in investment banking. As President of Convergence Advisors, he has executed a variety of transactions, including public and private offerings of debt and equity, merchant banking transactions, M&A, divestitures and restructurings in the technology, media, and telecommunications industries. Mr. Piegza also has significant experience as an operational professional for companies in the space sector. He is a co-Founder and member of the Board of Directors of U.S. Space LLC, a company he co-founded with Mr. Horowitz to provide satellite services to commercial and government clients, and was a member of the Board of Directors of UrtheCast Corp., a Vancouver-based company that provides geospatial data and analytics products and solutions. Prior to starting Convergence Advisors, Mr. Piegza was also a Managing Director in the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group at Banc of America Securities, where he provided oversight of satellite sector and covered accounts across cable, diversified entertainment and sports. Mr. Piegza was also an Executive Director in UBS’s Media Group, focused on the satellite and broadband sectors, and worked in the Investment Banking groups of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (“DLJ”) and Credit Suisse First Boston (He worked on the first successful IPO of an Asian satellite operator (AsiaSat) and the first HKSE/NYSE IPO dual-listing for a satellite company (APT Satellite). Mr. Piegza also worked in the M&A groups at Citibank and Drexel Burnham Lambert. Outside of A&D and investment banking, Mr. Piegza is co-Owner of multiple Synergy HomeCare franchises, including Hilton Head, SC, Charleston, SC, and Nashville, TN. He holds a MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois.

We believe Mr. Piegza is well-qualified to serve as a Director due to his extensive investment experience, his operational experience and his experience in dealing with strategic matters of technology and space related companies.